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Edward Shiloh
Edward "Smooth Eddy" Shiloh, also known as just "Ed," was a small-time criminal in the 1940s. He always worked with his partner Fred. Both of them occasionally worked for Dr. Tod's criminal organization. Ed and Fred were the ones who found the cannister with the wild card virus and brought it to Tod. They were among the men who attacked New York City in 1946 aboard Tod's dirigible, while Jetboy tried to stop them. Smooth Eddy was the sole survivor of the battle. History Smooth Eddy was a small-time criminal in the 1940s, operating in the New Jersey area. He frequently worked with his partner Fred. Fred and Ed both met criminal boss Dr. Tod in August of 1946, when Tod returned to America after the war. A few days later, they were hired by the mob to dump a murdered body in Pine Barrens, and found the cannister with the wild card virus, near the site of the crashed Takisian spaceship. Fred and Ed took the cannister back to Dr. Tod. After a few tests, Tod discovered the deadly properties of the alien virus. He decided to blackmail the government, demanding 20 million dollars, or else he'd release the virus over a major city. The government refused, and in September 15, Tod and a small group of thugs attacked New York City aboard a dirigible with the cannister. Smooth Eddy and Fred were among the group. In the ensuing aerial battle with Jetboy, Fred was killed. The dirigible was losing altitude after taking a few hits from Jetboy's fighter plane. Soon afterwards Jetboy boarded the dirigible. Smooth Eddy decided to flee, and jumped from the dirigible while Jetboy and Dr. Tod engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The dirigible exploded just a few seconds after Smooth Eddy jumped. Smooth Eddy panicked and opened his parachute too soon. It took 23 minutes for him to get to the ground. He suffered from frostbite due to the intense cold, and the doctors had to amputate one of his feet, and most of the fingers in his left hand. Still, Ed was lucky, he was the only survivor of the aerial battle. Smooth Eddy told his story to the police and to the world at large. Through the radio in his suit, he was even able to hear the last words exchanged between Dr. Tod and Jetboy. Smooth Eddy was the one who related Jetboy's famous last words: "I can't die yet. I haven't seen the Jolson Story." Appearance Never described. Personality Smooth Eddy was a typical thug, not very bright or sophisticated. He often came across as a goof. In his partnership with Fred, it seemed like Fred was the one with more brains. But as unremarkable as Ed was, he has had a crucial role in history; he was the one who actually noticed the cannister with the wild card virus and made Fred go back to retrieve it. Quotes "Back there! I swear I saw a guy pushing a neon's cat's-eye marble the size of Cleveland!" ... what did they say? Well, most of it was garbled. Let's see. Tod says "Stop him, stop him," and I shot. Then I lammed for the hole. They were yelling. I could only hear Jetboy when their helmets slammed together, through Tod's suit radio. Trivia Smooth Eddy is a central character in the Wild Cards comic book published by Epic Comics in 1990. In a story of questionable canonicity, Smooth Eddy is an old man bound to a wheelchair, bitter and repentant of his role in Jetboy's death and the release of the virus. He has become the owner of a museum dedicated to Jetboy, and hates the "freaks" created by the wild card virus. He plants bombs in important locales such as Jetboy's Tomb, Aces High, and the Jokertown clinic, to stir up anti-wild card sentiment. Selected Reading * Wild Cards Volume I: Wild Cards - "Thirty Minutes Over Broadway!" (Smooth Eddy and Fred find the cannister with the virus, take part in Dr. Tod's fateful assault on New York) * Wild Cards (comic book) (Jetboy's Tomb has been bombed and Jay Ackroyd seeks out old Edward Shiloh for information)